As I was driving into work, I was thinking about my early preppy days. When I was in college I was a district officer in Circle K (service org sponsered by Kiwanis). One summer I went to a convention and met some really super guys from Babson College. I had never heard of Babson College, but Lisa Birnbach refers to it as one of the preppiest colleges in TOPH. I had the guys' attention the entire week. They treated me like a queen. It must have been the Southern accent or maybe it was the preppy attire, or maybe they were trying to figure out my add-a-bead. I never heard from them again. That led me to reminiscence about preppy items from the past that are not around anymore. Do you remember Peter Popovich skirts? If not, they were printed skirts in colors such as kelly green and cornflower blue and were worn with coordinating tees or Tanner blouses. They were worn with Tretorns that had the same color as the skirt on the side. Malia sundresses - I lived in mine during the summers. I still have most of my Dottie Smith costume jewelry. A few years ago, I threw away all of my belt strips that I used with my Dottie Smith belt buckles. I had whales, frogs, a train and apple belt buckles and strips in every color and pattern. Do you remember Dean's sweaters? I had several cardigans. I don't think they exist anymore. I still have my add-a-bead necklace. I wear it occaisionally. Garland sweaters - I had several - cardigans and crews. A popular ensemble was a grey wool skirt, pink buttondown oxford, navy crewneck sweater, add-a-bead, navy cable knee socks and Bass weejuns or navy wool skirt, light blue buttondown oxford and kelly green crewneck sweater, etc. Later came the wool shorts. I still have a pair of grey wool short from Talbots. I'm waiting on them to come back in style. We went to the Pappagallo Shop every week. Popular mail order shops were The Talbots (of course), LL Bean (of course) and The Tog Shop. I think Appleseed's have bought The Tog Shop. Let's not forget Carroll Reed. I still have several boiled wool jackets that I bought at Carroll Reed. They were a sister company to Eagle's Eye. I still have Eagle's Eye in my closet. I have a sister that is 13 years younger than me. She was always a miniature version of me. Our parents dressed her preppy also. I didn't intend on writing a book. Maybe this will bring back memories for many of you.

Recipes from Southern Lady

Pink Lemonade Wine Spritzers

1 (12 ounce) can frozen concentrated pink lemonade, Minute Maid
1 (750 ml) bottle Chardonnay
3 cups lemon-lime soda, Sprite
½ cup lemon vodka, Absolut

In a large pitcher, combine all ingredients and stir. Refrigerate for 1 hour to blend flavors. Serve Chilled.


Triple Lemon Cake

1 ((18.25 ounce) box white cake mix, Betty Crocker
1 ¼ cups water
½ cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 teaspoons coconut extract, McCormick
2 ½ cups sweetened coconut, divided
2 teaspoons lemon extract, McCormick
2 (16 ounce) cans creamy white frosting, Betty Crocker Rich & Creamy
Yellow food coloring, McCormick
Garnish: lemon slices

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour three 8-inch round cake pans.
In a large bowl, combine cake mix, water, oil, eggs, and coconut extract; stir to combine just until moist. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes or until well blended. Stir in ½ cup coconut. Divide batter evenly among pans.
Bake for 20 minutes or until testers inserted into centers of cakes come out clean. Cool cakes in pans on cooling rack for 15 minutes. Invert cakes onto cooling racks; remove pans. Cool completely.
Stir 1 teaspoon of lemon extract into each can of frosting. Add food coloring to 1 can of frosting. Place 1 layer on serving platter. Spread half of the yellow frosting over top of layer. Top with second layer. Spread remaining yellow frosting over top of layer. Top with remaining cake layer.
Frost top and sides of cake with remaining can of frosting. Sprinkle remaining 2 cups of shredded coconut over top and onto sides of cake. Garnish with lemon slices, if desired.

I finally got sort of caught up at work. I still didn't do my learning module. Maybe tomorrow. I got the new Talbots catalogue in the mail today. It was okay. I used to look like I stepped right out of a Talbots catalogue, but now I don't seem to see anything that I like in there. Is it just me? I need skirts in the worst way for sping and summer, but I can't find what I like. I like a skirt that comes about 3 inches below the knee, straight with no stretch. A plain twill skirt would be nice, but all I can find is at LL Bean and I already have the bayside twill in khaki, navy and red. If anybody sees anything that fits that description, let me know. Am I picky or what? My spring and summer uniform is a straight skirt, tee from LL Bean or Banana Republic or a polo, a cardigan from Lands' End, Lilly or LL Bean, and a grosgrain belt from Morgan & Company or Eliza B or a Vineyard Vines belt. I know, I look almost the same every day just a different color. But it works.

I don't have very much to say today. I spent all day trying to catch up on work that got put aside during all of the merger hoopla. I also signed up for benefits with the new company. I participated in an HR webinar - twice. The second time, I think I may have dozed off. I hope my boss didn't see that. Tomorrow I have to take my "Code of Ethics" class on the online learning module. There's just too much to do right now. Maybe in a couple of weeks, I'll be caught up. But then again, I'll probably have new tasks to do.

LISAGH!! Where did you go? What are we going to do without the Garage?

I only watched a few minutes of the Oscars last night. All I can say is for some reason Javier Bardem makes my heart beat faster. What is it about him? See Lisagh's blog for the comment about John Travolta's hair. He almost looks like Bela Lugosi (the original Dracula) Some of you requested the recipes from Southern Lady Magazine. I will try to get those up tomorrow.

5 Weird Things about Me

I was tagged by Short Pump Preppy. Here are 5 weird things about me.

1. As the name of my blog implies, I still drink TaB. For those of you who are younger, TaB is a diet soft drink that came out in the 60's and was extremey popular in the 70's and early 80's. Diet Coke came along and knocked TaB off its throne.

2. I'm a very picky eater. I only eat certain brands of certain foods.

3. When I go on vacation, I would rather drive than fly. I have driven to Maine several times and to Toronto from Alabama. My BFF MAB have some really interesting stories about adventures we've had on the journeys.

4. I don't like fish or seafood of any kind. Don't even want to look at it. It makes me want to gag.

5. Even though I am very particular about my appearance, some of my clothes are several years old. I have a hard time finding pants and skirts that I like, so I just wear the old ones. I wear some skirts that are 15 years old. Believe it or not, they still look good.

I tag whoever has not had a chance at this yet. I apologize for the formatting. I'm still working on it.